Music
Prom 5 was the BBC Philharmonic conducted by Juanjo Mena. The crowd-puller was Richard Strauss's setting of Nietzsche's "Also sprach Zarathustra". Since the Karajan recording and Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, the opening music "Sunrise" has been both a showcase for hifi sound and a fairly sure spine-tingler even at home. With a very full orchestra and underscored by the lowest notes of the magnificent Harrison organ of the Albert Hall, the effect was certainly electrifying and of course there was no hint of hifi overload as this was a live performance.
Awesome Prom 2, my first this season: a semi-staged performance of Lerner & Loewe’s My Fair Lady. It seems that even someone who doesn’t know anything about musicals will know at least one of the tunes, probably “Get me to the church on time”.
The BBC Proms present themselves as the “world’s greatest classical music festival” and of course they are; it’s a pleasure and a privilege to be able to walk to the Albert Hall direct from my work’s office and then to walk home afterwards.
All of this depends on tickets, either a Prom ticket bought on the day or seat tickets bought in advance. These days the advance booking process is online but is far from satisfactory. It is maybe slightly less of a lottery than the previous postal booking process: at least I can choose exactly what to book and adapt my choices in the light of what is actually available at the point of booking.
I enjoyed The Royal Opera's latest revival of their production of Puccini's romantic tragedy La Bohème, conducted by Semyon Bychkov. This production was first shown in 1974 and has lasted exceptionally well. It is very much an atmospheric design and a great relief to have a straightforward setting where an attic is an attic and a bar is a bar. The production has loads of detail and stage action but lets the music shine forth without distraction as Puccini unleashes his full romantic palette.
Semyon Bychkov started off briskly: that seems to be the most effective way to settle the audience, many of whom are there as much for a night out enjoying corporate hospitality as to enjoy an emotional workout. The strong emotions of Act One of La Bohème, contrasting what was 19th century Paris bohemian or laddish behaviours with high emotion, verge on sentimentality that seems a strange recreation for corporate people who must deny their own emotions to achieve their success. It's as much a contrast as a boxing dinner with the East End's hopefuls fighting for the entertainment of the black tie and suited diners.
A varied programme for violin and piano presented by Keswick Music Society at the Theatre by the Lake featured Tasmin Little, violin, and Martin Roscoe, piano. The evening took us on several musical journeys, firstly from 1740 (Tartini) through to 1915 (Szymanowski). Also from classical form through nationalist story-telling (Smetana) and Edwardian romanticism (Elgar) to Szymanowski 's atmospheric impressionism.
Read more: Tasmin Little and Martin Roscoe - Keswick Music Society
